A Twitter e-book voted on to the Booker Prize longlist? How very novel

It is a format that has been derided by many authors and blamed by some
publishers for threatening the extinction of the traditional book. But in an
unmistakable sign that e-books are being taken seriously, one has been
nominated for the Man Booker Prize.

The first section of the book was being given away free on social networks Twitter and FacebookPhoto: PA

The Kills, a 900-page political thriller by Richard House, was originally published in four digital parts, with the first section being given away free on social networks Twitter and Facebook. It was published with additional film and audio content.

Now available in a hardback edition as well, it has been announced as part of the 13-strong longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize, a selection that judges have called the “most diverse” ever.

The list, whittled down from 151 novels and announced today, has been hailed as “thrilling”, with female authors outnumbering men for the first time.

Seven women are nominated for the £50,000 prize this year, compared with six men. The list includes three first-time authors — NoViolet Bulawayo, Eve Harris and Donal Ryan — three independent publishers, and authors from Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and Ireland.

Of the 13, two of the authors have appeared on the shortlist before: Jim Crace was shortlisted in 1997, while Colm Tóibín has been shortlisted twice. Subjects covered by the novels on the longlist include the experience of a Hungarian teenager at public school, the travails of a Malaysian migrant worker and the exploration of sex and marriage in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Five of the novels have not yet even been published, and literary critics have noted significant omissions including previous winners JM Coetzee, Roddy Doyle and Margaret Atwood.

Writer Robert Macfarlane, who chaired the judging panel, said: “This is surely the most diverse longlist in Man Booker history; wonderfully various in terms of geography, form, length and subject.

“These 13 outstanding novels range from the traditional to the experimental, from the first century AD to the present day, from 100 pages to 1,000 and from Shanghai to Hendon.”

Speaking of the inclusion of The Kills, he added: “The novel has always adapted and it’s a very fast-changing form and that’s one reason why it’s survived to the present. It shifts and changes, and this is more shifting and changing than most.”

The shortlist will be announced in September, and the winner on Oct 15.